Meigs junior Paige Denney (4) tips a free ball over the outstretched arms of a Federal Hocking player during Game 3 of Tuesday night's non-conference volleyball contest in Rocksprings, Ohio. (Bryan Walters/OVP Sports)

Bryan Walters/OVP Sports

ROCKSPRINGS, Ohio — The hard work paid off in the long run.

It took four hard-fought games, but the Meigs volleyball team picked up its first victory of the 2016 campaign Tuesday night following a 25-18, 25-23, 24-26, 25-19 decision over visiting Federal Hocking in a non-conference matchup at Larry R. Morrison Gymnasium in Meigs County.

The Lady Marauders (1-2) battled through several obstacles in each of the four games, but the hosts also came up with all of the right answers at critical times — which ultimately enabled the Maroon and Gold to come with 3-1 match triumph.

The Lady Lancers stormed out to an early 6-0 cushion in the opening contest, but MHS responded by scoring a dozen of the next 14 points for a 12-8 edge.

The Lady Marauders followed with a 12-7 run to secure their largest lead of Game 1 at 24-15, but FHHS answered with three straight points before ultimately bowing out in the seven-point decision.

Meigs rode that momentum into Game 2 as the hosts stormed out to a trio of six-point leads, the last of which came at 18-12. Fed Hock, however, reeled off seven straight points to take its first lead at 19-18.

Both teams battled through ties at 21- and 23-all, but the Maroon and Gold broke serve and added a service point for a two-point win and a 2-0 match advantage.

There were eight ties and nine lead changes alone in Game 3, with Fed Hock jumping out to an early 7-2 cushion before MHS rallied back to claim its first lead of the third contest at 22-21.

The Lady Marauders also took small leads after breaking ties at 22- and 23-all, but the guests broke serve to knot things up at 24-all before scoring the final two points to close the match deficit down to 2-1.

The Lady Lancers again claimed an early 4-3 edge in Game 4, but Meigs countered with seven straight points for a 10-4 cushion that it would never relinquish.

The Lady Marauders led by as many as nine points on three different occasions in the fourth game before ultimately finishing things with a six-point win.

Kassidy Betzing led Meigs with 24 service points, followed by Alliyah Pullins with 12 points and Devyn Oliver with seven points. Devin Humphreys and Paige Denney both added three points apiece to the winning cause as well.

Allie Hanstine and Morgan Lodwick each contributed two points, while Jordan Roush, Maddie Fields and Maddie Hendricks also scored a point apiece for the victors.

Betzing paced the hosts with five service aces, while Oliver and Lodwick respectively added three aces and two aces.

Betzing led MHS with 18 kills and Alliyah Pullins chipped in 10 kills, while Oliver added another four kills. Betzing, Pullins and Hanstine also had a block apiece in the win.

Oliver dished out a team-best 25 assists and also had a team-high nine digs. Roush also had four digs for Meigs.